The drone Zephyr managed to climb to record high

The drone Zephyr managed to climb to a record high in 18805 meters.

This flight differs from other flights of this aircraft that for the first time the permission to conduct was obtained from the civil, not military authorities.

The team, which was engaged in the preparation and conduct of the flight included engineers from the Institute of advanced science and technology UAE, which is a partner company Airbus Defence & Space in implementation of the program HAPS. Both groups of engineers spent a lot of time and effort for upgrades and training for flying a drone Zephyr, which now weighs only 34 pounds with a wingspan of 18 meters.

"The flight in Dubai demonstrated the ability of the flight apparatus Zephyr in areas with the most intense air traffic in the world," says Chris Keller (Chris Kelleher), technical Director of the Airbus HAPS program.

All systems of the aircraft survived the harsh conditions of the flight, the temperature drops from +40 to -80 degrees Celsius and wind gusts that affect the machine during its rise to maximum height

The ability of the apparatus of the Zephyr to fly for a long time, almost in the stratosphere puts him in the category of the so-called atmospheric satellites, aircraft, able to perform most of the tasks assigned to space satellites. But, the ability to "atmospheric satellites" to sit on the surface for resupply and maintenance makes these devices much more attractive from a practical and economic point of view.

Source: ridus.ru